Jets Make Costly Mistakes, Lose To Chargers

It all started well for the Jets, as CB David Barrett returned an interception for a touchdown to give the Jets an early 7-0 lead. This early success, however, was followed by a plethora of turnovers and horrendous play on defense, resulting in a 29-48 loss.

First, RB Thomas Jones lost a fumble on the second Jets' possession and the Chargers capitalized five plays later, taking a 10-7 lead. Then, on the first play of the second quarter QB Brett Favre's pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown, 17-7. The Gang Green instantly answered with a 94-yard kickoff return by RB Leon Washington and Favre's touchdown pass to WR Laveranues Coles just two plays later. But the ensuing bold decision to go for an onside kick gave San Diego an excellent field position, which they used to widen their lead to 24-14. The Jets tried to answer again but Favre's miscommunication with wide receivers led to another interception.

It was 31-14 at halftime and the Chargers extended their lead to 38-14 on the opening possession of the second half, basically putting the game out of reach. In the final quarter Favre threw two touchdown passes to WR Chansi Stuckey and TE Dustin Keller. QB Kellen Clemens replaced Favre for the final possession and threw an interception.

The Jets fell to 1-2 and will play the Arizona Cardinals (2-1) on Sunday at the Meadowlands. Something definitely has to be done with the pass-rush, as it was completely non-existent against San Diego, allowing the Chargers to convert one third down after another with basically the same play - a short crossing route in the middle. While the pass-rush has struggled, the run defense has looked very strong this season thus far. Tonight they limited LaDainian Tomlinson to just 2.6 yards per carry and held him well under 100 yards even playing without NT Kris Jenkins for the most part of the game.

The offense is definitely still going through some growing pains, as there's plenty of miscommunication between Favre and his receiving core. But it's only Week 3 and more than enough time to put the team on the right track. It was good to see rookie TE Dustin Keller finally get involved in the offense - 4 catches for 41 yards and 1 touchdown. Thomas Jones, despite the lost fumble, looked alright and would have definitely posted good numbers if the Jets didn't have to play all game from behind.

The next game is a must win, as the difference between 1-3 and 2-2 is huge. Additionally, beating Arizona would be a big morale boost before the bye in Week 5. It doesn't look too good at the moment but it's way too early to throw in the towel even after a blowout loss like tonight. We've seen worse before, so it hopefully can only get better...